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New Vegetable: Urui/Hosta Montana

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urui-61

Last Sunday, while visiting my favourite supermarket inside the Shizuoka JR Station in search of unusual vegetables I had the pleasure to re-discover that increasingly popular Japanese vegetable, namely urui.
Its Latin name id Hosta Montana. If someone knows the English name, I would be very grateful to be enlightened!
Now, originally this vegetable was a “sansai/wild vegetable” until it has been successfully grown almost all over Japan.

urui-1

The real name of this mountain plant is Oobagibooshi, too long a name to be marketed, hence the “new” name “urui” for the cultivated species.
At full maturity it can reach imposing height and width.
Like asparaguses, it is harvested early before it extends over a foot/30 cm height.

urui-2

The leaves are still small, thin and tender then.
The whole plant, unless cooked as tenpura or fried, needs to be lightly boiled in lightly salted water beforehand.

urui-31

To prepare the plant for the evening snack I had in mind for the Missus (Natasha, Tangled Noodle, do you remember? LOL) I cut the plant into 3 equal lengths and boiled the two bottom ones first as they would take longer. Once boiled to satsifaction I took theme out and cooled them under cold water, cut them lengthwise to thin enough strips and laid them onto a sheet of kitchen paper.
I boiled the leaves just long enough to make them tender, cooled them under cold water and spread them on a sheet of kitchen paper.

fine-ratatouille

I had cooked a fine ratatouille beforehand, let it cool completely and added a dressing of my making with soft Dijon mustard, tarragon white wine vinegar, walnut oil, pepper and salt.
Now vegan and vegetarian friends should proceed directly to the dish I created as the rest ill not suit them!

seafood

Next I lightly fried small scallops (after marinating then in lemon juice for a couple of minutes) just enough to keep them almost raw inside and put them aside to cool. I did the same, marinade included with some white shrimps.
Note: to attain their “standing shape” is very easy. First “peel” them leaving the tail ends for better “handling”, make a shallow cut along their back, take out the innards and fry just enough to cok both sides to a nice color and keep them almost hlf raw inside. This way they will be firm but extremely tender.

snack

As for the dish itself, vegan and vegetarian friends can forget the seafood and replace it with more ratatouille and edible flowers for example.
I built an “enclosure” with the cut urui stem, filled it with ratatouille. I placed the seafood geomatrically above the ratatouille. Around it I alternately placed urui leaves, trevise with edible flowers and watercress.
I made a point to take a pic before we sprinkled the lot with dressing (I leave the choice to you!)
Great with a Blanquette de Limoux sparkling wine!

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18 thoughts on “New Vegetable: Urui/Hosta Montana”

  1. Pingback: Hosta Montana - Known as Urui - Japanese Cooking - Foraging | The Homestead Survival

  2. In plant nomenclature, hostas are no longer associated with the term plantain lily or its family. The genus hosta is now classified in its own monotypic family, called Hostaceae. Many hostas are sold in the United States, of which there are over 7,000 registered varieties. (Kevin P. Walek, International Registrar). A common variety sold by many hosta vendors in the United States is Hosta montana ‘Aureomarginata’. Although many of the varieties may be used for cooking, in Japan, the popular varieties, besides Hosta Montana, are Hosta fortunei and Hosta sieboldiana.

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  3. Hi, this looks great. Here in the USA, I’ve always heard of all varieties of these referred to simply as “hostas.” There are other species besides H. montana, and I’ve heard that they are equally edible, though perhaps not as tasty? I’ve yet to try them myself. There are thousands of named cultivars, and think that many nurseries fail to identify (or properly identify) the species. Alas. Anyhow, I’ll definitely give hostas a try this spring. Thanks for the post!

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    1. Dear Sara!
      Greetings!
      Thank you so much for visiting and comenting!
      Don’t forget the plant must be consumed very early before they reach a foot height!
      Cheers,
      Robert-Gilles

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  5. Over in the UK, everyone knows it as Hosta. It’s used as a decorative border plant. We fight hard battles to keep the slugs and snails off them. I’ve heard countless shows about how to do it – with ash from the fire, surrounding the plant with crushed eggshells, trails of chemical pellets, battalions of beer traps… No one has yet cottoned onto why the the little creatures might be so keen.

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